The ministers are; Lateef Fagbemi, Muhammad Ali Pate, Ibrahim Geidam and
Adebayo Adelabu and Doris Uzoka-Anite.
Several other ministers including those of the Federal Capital Territory and
Petroleum, had on Thursday made their own presentations at the Radio House in
Abuja.
The Attorney-General of the Federation ( AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef
Fagbemi, said at the briefing that the case of the detained leader of the
Indeginous People of Biafra (IPOB) is a difficult one and since it’s already
in court should be left to the law to take its course.
Fagbemi, while responding to questions from newsmen at the briefingpointed out
that there is a remarkable difference between Kanu’s case and that of the
convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore.
He said, “Sowore and Kanu are not the same, when it comes to the first one I
didn’t have difficulty to say go, but I have difficulty with the second one”.
While pointing out that Kanu is being held in accordance with the
Constitution, he observed that, “the matter is still in court, let’s wait for
the court”.
Sowore was arrested in 2019 and prosecuted for allegedly calling for the
forceful take over of the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, the federal government through the office of the AGF in February this
year filed a notice of discontinuation of the case.
He also said FG has secured 250 convictions from the prosecution of terrorism
and criminal offices in various courts of law in the country.
The AGF who reeled out the achievements of the Ministry of Justice in the year
under review, said in furtherance of the Ministry’s mandate of enhancing
national security and safety through prosecution, the FG has secured 160
convictions for criminal offences, 87 convictions for terrorism cases, 3 novel
convictions in the last one year for extremist terrorism actors involved in
the radicalization of children and violence against women.
Fagbemi hinted that the Justice Ministry in conjunction with relevant security
and law enforcement agencies (LEAs), have developed a framework for joint
investigation and collaboration geared towards the engagement of
prosecution-guided investigation in various criminal cases, to address the
challenges to successful prosecutions.
“There is also enhanced inter-agency synergy for prosecution of Maritime
Cases, Electricity offences, collaboration with public and private sector
stakeholders on cybersecurity protection and cybercrime prosecution, the AGF
said.
Following the Ministry’s intervention for the upgrade of facilities designated
for trial of terrorism cases, Fagbemi said the Ministry has resumed trials of
terrorism cases in conjunction with the Legal Aid Council, National Human
Rights Commission and other stakeholders.
The percentages of terrorism cases initiated and corruption cases concluded
within the reporting period has been significant, the Justice Minister said.
In addition, the AGF stated that the Tinubu administration has facilitated
international cooperation on terrorism financing and other trans national
crimes.
Fagbemi said the FG has secured conviction of 13 terrorism financing cases,
and have also concluded 150 mutual legal assistance requests and 12
extradition requests from law enforcement agencies and foreign countries.
“The Ministry places priority on enhancing the prosecutorial and litigation
capacity of its staff, to this end it organized capacity building programmes
to improve knowledge on various aspects of the law including Darknet and
Cryptocurrencies applied to terrorism financing, investigation and prosecution
of financial and wildlife crimes in Nigeria.
“The coordination of the effective implementation of the National Anti-Money
Laundering/Combating Proliferation Financing (AML/CPF) Strategy 2023 – 2027 is
also a top priority for the Ministry, the AGF said.
More so, in line with the cardinal principle of the present administration in
the fight against corruption, the Justice Ministry, the AGF said, has achieved
successes under its international asset recovery and management efforts.
The asset sharing agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the
Bailiwick of Jersey was signed in February 2024, for the return of £2,125,944
(Two Million, One Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand, Nine Hundred and
Forty-Four GBP) proceeds of corruption, the AGF revealed.
“This has been approved by the President to be utilized, for continuation of
works on the Abuja-Kano Road project” Fagbemi said.
On the Glencore settlement, the Justice Minister said the Ministry on behalf
of Nigeria on April 25, 2024, concluded negotiation of a settlement agreement
with Glencore International A.G. wherein the firm is expected to pay the sum
of $50 million USD as penalty and compensation for certain activities in
Nigeria.
Also, speaking on the development of the proceeds of Crime Recovery and
Management Regulation, 2024, by the Ministry, the AGF said the objective of
the regulation which is being developed with relevant agencies is to ensure
transparency, accountability and standardization in the management of
recovered assets, in line with global best practices.
“This document is being finalized for validation, the AGF said.
Muhammad Ali Pate, the minister of Health on his part said the government
examined the experiences and expectations of Nigerians, the burden of diseases
and how it is evolving, what is working well and what is failing, the state of
health infrastructure, human resources, financing, and the overall state of
health of Nigeria.
We consulted with the States, development partners, civil society, and the
private sector to articulate an agenda that aligns with the President’s
overall reform agenda (The Renewed Hope Agenda). This agenda in health aims to
save lives, reduce
physical and financial pain, promote health, and ensure it is accessible to
all Nigerians.
Since announcing the health agenda, we have been actively implementing it.
Over the last several months, we have made considerable progress implementing
the four pillars, which I will report on regarding our accomplishments, not
just our future
aspirations, to build human capital, improve health and well-being of our
people to drive future prosperity in our country.
First Pillar: Improve the Governance of the Health Sector. While not as
tangible, improving governance is crucial for advancing the health and welfare
sector. It requires collaboration between the federal government, states,
development partners, private sector and civil society.
We have embarked on an ambitious digital transformation agenda to be on the
path of electronic records, quality data for decision making and stronger data
governance.
Second Pillar: Population Health Outcomes: Now, concerning the substantive
second pillar—improving the population health outcomes of Nigerians—it is
important to note that the federal government is only one part of this effort.
Other sectors of the
government also contribute significantly at the Federal level, as well as
State Governments and intergovernmental entities.
At the federal Ministry of Health, we oversee 30 teaching hospitals, 22
federal medical centres, and 21 specialty hospitals, along with five core
agencies, 16 regulatory bodies, 10 departments, and three special units.
At the primary health care level, through the National Primary Health Care
Development Agency, in collaboration with the States, we outlined a plan to
revive 8300 primary health care centres across the nation to make them fully
functional and to expand and upgrade to 17,000 Primary Health Care Centres
over the next 3-years.
Over the next three years, at least 120,000 frontline health workers serving
rural populations will be equipped with the
necessary skills, supported by the infrastructure and equipment we will
provide.
At least 1,400 Primary Health Care Centres are now equipped to provide skilled
birth attendance, funded through the NPHCDA and the NHIA, covering the 8,300
facilities.
More than 2,400 health workers, including nurses, doctors, and midwives, have
been recruited to provide services to Nigerians, many of whom are women in
rural areas delivering essential services.
In the area of vaccination, over 5 million Nigerian children have been
vaccinated against diphtheria using pentavalent vaccine. More than 10 million
Nigerian children received the tetanus and diphtheria vaccines. We are working
hard to stop the circulating variant polio viruses showing up in Kano,
Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi States. We have delivered measles vaccines
to more than 5 million children to protect them against measles, and 4.95
million girls 9-14 years in 15 States have received HPV vaccines to protect
them against cervical cancer, representing 80% target, among the highest in
the world. 6 million more are planned to receive the vaccines in the next
phase for 21 states starting from May 27, 2024.
In terms of hospital equipment and infrastructure, the federal hospitals have
successfully executed 201 specific infrastructure projects in the last 1 year.
Additionally, 179 specific pieces of important medical equipment were procured
by the federal government and distributed across the six geopolitical zones.
In 33 of our federal tertiary hospitals, approximately 4.5 million Nigerians
accessed outpatient health services, and 1.6 million had inpatient admissions.
Showing that Nigerians are using the services provided by the Federal
Government in those facilities, supported by an amazing army of health
professionals.
We are witnessing substantial upgrade in healthcare infrastructure, a
testament to the President’s leadership. Plans are underway for the ground
breaking ceremony of10 healthcare infrastructure projects, through the NSIA,
across the six geopolitical zones, including diagnostic centres and oncology
centres.
These developments are part of a broader initiative involving public-private
partnerships. We are moving forward with a major PPP to get to the full
business case stage for expanding infrastructure and equipping 6 teaching
hospitals.
Addressing the critical issue of the health workforce, we have doubled the
intake capacity of our educational institutions. Enrolment quotas for medical
schools, nursing schools, and other health professional training institutions
have increased significantly from 28,000 to 64,000 annually.
Now the hard work of getting educational institutions to enhance
infrastructure, teaching materials to ensure quality is not eroded by
expanding the quantity. This is necessary given the shortage of health
workforce.
We have also approved a managed migration policy for health and are looking at
how best to address the excessive workload of medical providers, especially
the medical doctors.
In the last 7 months more than 100 young medical graduates secured residency
positions in the US and we issued the certificates of need for them to be
trained and return home, and changed the policy to include domestic as well as
internationally trained medical graduates.
We are working with Ministry of Labour as well as Salaries Incomes and Wages
Commission to address long standing legacy issues of compensation and
allowances which will take time and more patience from health workers.
FG Establishes National Criminal Data Fusion Center
Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, in his presentation said
the federal government has established the National Criminal Data Fusion
Center for the Nigeria Police Force to serve as a platform for collaboration
among various law enforcement agencies.
The minister pointed out that the center was established to consolidate
criminal data, conduct analysis, and share key intelligence products to
bolster internal security operations.
He added that it would facilitate intelligence sharing with security agencies
in Nigeria and the broader international security community.
Gaidam recalled that in the past year, significant investments have been
directed towards surveillance systems, drones, and communication technologies
to bolster the Force’s capacity for real-time data collection and response.
0 Comments